HARRISBURG -- In the next few weeks, Gov. Ed Rendell wants state legislators to enact a new $1 billion-a-year plan to fix roads, bridges and transit, but a lot of lawmakers are hesitant to increase costs for their constituents so close to the Nov. 2 election.

Mr. Rendell is proposing to generate $576 million a year in new funding by imposing an 8 percent tax on the "gross profits" of oil companies doing business in Pennsylvania, plus $434 million from higher fees for driver's licenses, car and truck registrations and other vehicle-related costs.

Mr. Rendell, who leaves office in January, told a news conference Monday that his new oil company levy would contain a provision barring oil companies from passing along the tax increase to motorists in the form of higher gasoline prices. About 60 vehicle fees would go up, such as the $36 registration fee going to $49, the four-year driver's license fee of $28 going to $32 and a certificate of title fee going from $22.50 to $31.

State Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler spent more than two hours pitching the governor's funding plan to a bipartisan meeting of House and Senate members Monday. There was some limited support, but right now it doesn't look like it will get a majority of the 203-member House or the 50-member Senate.

"We have to ensure safe roads and bridges, but I don't think most of the General Assembly will be inclined to vote for tax or fee increases before the election," said Rep. Bill Kortz, D-Dravosburg. "It's a real roll of the dice. People will look at those [higher vehicle] fees as tax increases."

On the other hand, he said the Rendell plan "is a good way to start the debate. I want to hear more about it. We have real safety issues at stake and we can't sit back and do nothing and have bridges fall down."

House Republican Whip Mike Turzai of Bradford Woods said, "I don't think it's realistic that the governor's plan will be passed by Nov. 2. A lot of people [in the Legislature] want to wait and start anew with the new governor" who takes office in January.

Mr. Turzai said higher taxes and fees "should be a last resort," and before such action is taken, "We need to look at how PennDOT can be more efficient with the $7 billion in federal and state funds it already spends." He also said transportation "reforms" are needed, such as opening up public transit in Allegheny County to other public or even private transit agencies, rather than letting the Port Authority have a monopoly, as state law now gives it.

Rep. Michael O'Brien, D-Philadelphia, said he would vote for the governor's plan, but he doesn't expect the House to return to session before mid-September. That only leaves about a month for action, because lawmakers will return home in mid-October to campaign. He said it's urgent to generate additional funds to repair roads and bridges.

He said Interstate 95 is a major highway passing through his district, carrying thousands of cars per day, and it needs considerable improvement. "I cannot justify, in my heart or in my mind, not doing anything and that road collapsing."

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, blasted Mr. Rendell for "trying to fleece the taxpayers" with higher fees, adding, "We are collecting enough from taxpayers ... but it's never enough to meet this governor's insatiable appetite for other people's money."

Under the Rendell plan, $700 million of the additional funds would go for annual road and bridge repairs, while $300 million a year would go for transit ($250 million a year for capital needs and $50 million for operational needs).

Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, head of the Appropriations Committee and a Rendell ally, couldn't predict whether there are enough House votes to pass the Rendell plan. The House is now controlled by Democrats by a 104-99 margin.

Since Mr. Rendell is a Democrat and House leaders generally push his initiatives, most of the votes for the new tax and higher fees will likely have to come from Democrats.

Some rank-and-file Democrats fear that Republicans will make an election issue out of Democratic support for higher taxes, especially if oil companies go to court and win the ability to pass the new tax on to drivers by raising gasoline prices by several cents a gallon.

Mr. Rendell pledged that won't happen, saying the proposed law would make it a third-degree misdemeanor for oil companies to charge noticeably higher gasoline prices in Pennsylvania than in neighboring states. His bill would give the attorney general power to audit oil company books and see if they are accurately reporting their profits.

Mr. Rendell said the only financial effect on drivers would be small, perhaps $40 more a year. His proposal doesn't include higher state gasoline taxes, but he said last week he didn't think most drivers would notice an increase of 4 cents a gallon in the state's 31-cent-per-gallon tax. He said he could accept a modest increase in the gasoline tax if the Legislature included it.

Other ideas floating around include: creating public-private partnerships, where the state would lease a highway or bridge to a private company that would toll it and perform maintenance, or putting tolls at the places where interstates enter and leave Pennsylvania.

Mr. Rendell said the Legislature should approve the transportation funding now and not wait for a new governor, especially since that could be Republican Tom Corbett, who has vowed not to approve any tax increases.

He noted that a recent study recommended the state spend up to an additional $3.5 billion a year on transportation, so the $1 billion a year to be raised by his plan would be only a portion of that need.

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